Development of Adaptable Cell LA-ICP-MS and Support for External Collaborations in the Elemental Analysis Facility at The Field Museum

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With support from the National Science Foundation, Drs. Laure Dussubieux and Ryan Williams of the Elemental Analysis Facility at the Field Museum will expand the services of the laboratories to a wide range of archaeological scholars. The facility includes a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), and an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The ICP-MS can be fitted with two lasers. One of the lasers is dedicated to the sampling of small objects with a high throughput, whereas the second laser, a totally unique, custom-transformed apparatus, accommodates large objects. This equipment was complemented by the recent acquisition of two portable XRF instruments for totally non-invasive investigations of artifacts on the premises of the Museum or in the field. The facility is used to determine the composition, including major, minor, and trace elements, of a large range of materials in a non-destructive manner to address questions related to the archaeology of cultural production, interaction and exchange in the Americas, Africa, Oceania, Europe, and Asia and advancing the cause of material conservation of The Field Museums reknowned anthropology collections.The elemental analysis facility serves the Field Museum community as well as scholars and students from the Chicago area, the Midwest and throughout the world. This project will develop our interaction with outside scientists to attract high profile collaborative projects by offering financial support to offset travel and accommodation expenses as well as a subvention of analytical costs. The laboratory provides a unique training opportunity for students. They are initiated into the analytical process by undertaking the analysis itself and are trained in method development, the statistical processing of the data, and interpretation. The acquisition of a laser system with an adaptable cell will extend the range of artifacts possible to analyze to whole specimens and reduce the risk of biased samples that a selection of only small objects could introduce. The presence of an on-site laboratory at the Field Museum creates the opportunity to study artifacts from the unique collections of the museum that could not be moved easily to outside analytical facilities. The intellectual merits of the project include the establishment of extensive new datasets of archaeological and ethnological material from around the world that directly informs hypotheses about ancient trade and exchange, technology, and their relationship to the development of social complexity around the world. By sharing our expertise for the investigation of ancient material and linking leading scholars and graduate students to the museums extensive collections and giving them the tools to analyze these one of a kind assemblages, the project will significantly enhance understanding of the role of cultural production in the development of complex societies.The broader impacts of the research include student training and public education. This project integrates research and training of undergraduate and graduate students. Results of this research will inform future exhibits and education activities of the institution, which educate hundreds of thousands of school children and millions of visitors annually. We will focus our efforts in developing the use of laser ablation ICP-MS to investigate new materials and new issues as long as it helps us addressing important questions related to cultural and technological interaction and exchange.